Image: “JESUS IS CONDEMNED TO DEATH”

WELCOME

Sunday, July 4, 2021

The Book Of John

Series: LOVED BY JESUS

Message: The Condemned

Scripture: John 18:28-19:16a ESV

Pastor Philip Miller

Scripture Reading Psalm 33 ESV

Psalms 33 ESV and Audio

The Steadfast Love of the Lord

33 Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!

Praise befits the upright.

2 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;

make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!

3 Sing to him a new song;

play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

4 For the word of the Lord is upright,

and all his work is done in faithfulness.

5 He loves righteousness and justice;

the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,

and by the breath of his mouth all their host.

7 He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;

he puts the deeps in storehouses.

8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;

let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!

9 For he spoke, and it came to be;

he commanded, and it stood firm.

10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;

he frustrates the plans of the peoples.

11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever,

the plans of his heart to all generations.

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

13 The Lord looks down from heaven;

he sees all the children of man;

14 from where he sits enthroned he looks out

on all the inhabitants of the earth,

15 he who fashions the hearts of them all

and observes all their deeds.

16 The king is not saved by his great army;

a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.

17 The war horse is a false hope for salvation,

and by its great might it cannot rescue.

18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,

on those who hope in his steadfast love,

19 that he may deliver their soul from death

and keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul waits for the Lord;

he is our help and our shield.

21 For our heart is glad in him,

because we trust in his holy name.

22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,

even as we hope in you.

Message: The Condemned

Scripture: John 18:28-19:16a ESV

Pastor Philip Miller

Scripture: John 18 ESV

John 18 ESV and Audio

SERMON NOTES

Sunday, July 4, 2021

The Book Of John

Series: LOVED BY JESUS

Message: The Condemned

Scripture: John 18:28-19:16a ESV

Pastor Philip Miller

The Condemned: Can God redeem evil intentions?

Jesus gets it. He gets how hard life is. He gets how heartbreaking it can be. He gets how violating and brutal and unjust people are sometimes.

We all need a God who gets it, because when life’s cruelties break into your life, you don’t need a god who’s aloof and pampered and insulated. You need a God who gets it, who understands how it feels, who can sympathize with you, and who will weep with you.

And friends, Jesus has been there. He gets it.

In this passage, John is going to walk us through Jesus’ Roman trial. Now, as we make our way through this passage, notice two things in particular. First, John’s depiction of the cruel suffering and injustice Jesus faced. Some of us can relate to that. Second, John’s use of irony throughout this account. Things are not as they seem.

As we walk through the passage, this sermon explores six striking ironies:

1)Disingenuous Fulfillment: Through the religious leaders’ hypocrisy, God’s will is achieved. They unwittingly advance the will of God, that Jesus would be lifted up and draw all people to Himself, just as He said He would.

2) Discounted King: Pilate missed the ultimate reality standing before him. The true king, the highest truth, the ultimate reason for the universe was standing right in front of him, and he missed seeing Jesus. Instead, Pilate throws up his hands and walks out.

3) Demanded Substitute: This exchange depicts precisely what Jesus offers—substitutionary payment for our sins in our place. This irony is, what they demanded, Jesus voluntarily offers.

4) Defamed Innocent: By stripping Jesus’ honor they ensured His glory. They intended to shame Him into oblivion, but all they ended up doing was move Jesus closer to His glory.

5) Disregarded Lord: The religious leaders stand in judgement of the true Judge of all the earth.

6) Destined Lamb: In a redemptive twist, Jesus is the true Passover Lamb. Passover commemorated how God redeemed Israel from slavery in Egypt through the blood of a lamb. And now all these years later, a true and greater Passover is taking place. God redeems not only Israel but also the entire world from slavery to sin by the blood of a true and greater Lamb. And here’s the irony: all their murderous plotting against Jesus played into the greatest redemption the world has ever seen.

Takeaways:

-What they intended for evil, God intended for good.

-Nothing irredeemable can happen to us.

If God can take religious hypocrisy, trumped up charges, abusive power, political intrigue, and vindictive mobs, and work a redemptive twist through all of it to bring salvation to the world…imagine what he’s up to right now in our lives!

Philip Miller Senior Pastor

PASTOR TO PEOPLE

Happy Independence Day!

This weekend Americans everywhere will be celebrating the birth of our nation. Hotdogs and hamburgers, parades and fireworks, friends and family—the fourth of July will be observed all over the country.

As we express our gratitude for life here in the United States of America, let us not forget that we are ultimately citizens of heaven. Jesus is King, and we are citizens of his everlasting Kingdom. Nations rise and fall, but He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He alone deserves our fullest and highest allegiance.

So today we celebrate our freedoms in this nation, and our ultimate freedom found in Jesus Christ alone!

You are loved, more than you know!

Pastor Philip